Thief or psycho? Police fear the worst

Bangalore, July 30: The mystery thief who had struck again on Saturday 27, kidnapping a 9-year old girl and leaving her in the same place, minus the jewellery on her body, is feared to be a psychopath. This was the 23rd incident of its kind.

Police fear that the 30-year old native of Hoskote is a psychopath and they made a big mistake releasing him. Although, he seems to be harmless, he is known to lure school-going girls with sweets and chocolates, claiming to be their relative, and taking them to far-off places. He then relieves them of their gold earrings, chains, and bangles and leave them in the original place after two days.

A senior officer said," Ravi Kumar alias Ravi alias Babu alias Prakash seems to be a psychopath who is kidnapping the girls with some other intention than stealing jewellery from them. He may be doing it to fulfill a perverted sexual desire, but has not raped any of his victims."

"But we are not taking any chances - he should be caught as early as possible. We still remember that the Dandupalya gang were not raping or killing people when they started on their life of crime. This man could end up as notorious as they were," he added.

Interestingly, the man does not seem to have any sexual interest in the girls. In the July 21 case, for instance, the girl was drugged and picked her up from Yelahanka. When she was dropped back on July 24, she said that the man spoke to him with "love" and brought her whatever she asked for. On conducting a medical test, sexual abuse was ruled out but police believes that the girls are used in some other ways.

Joint commissioner of police (crime) Hemanth Nimbalkar further adds, "When we nab him, we will get to the bottom of his motives for kidnapping the girls."

Psychiatrists, however, are giving a separate angle to the incidents. "The man's behaviour is quite unusual. He may be doing this because he was deprived of parental love and affection as a child. Such persons ‘compensate' by showing love and affection to children. But why is he choosing only girls is something only an interrogation can reveal. He could also be deriving perverse satisfaction from spending time alone with children. His fixation prevents him from thinking of the consequences of his acts."